forgiveness as a multifunctional coping resource of a mature personality

Background. Researchers who study forgiveness have used different theoretical conceptualizations  of  the  construct.  Most  agree  that  forgiveness  is  a  complex  phenomenon (Enright and Fitzgibbons, 2000), which involves cognitive (Flanigan, 1992), affective (Malcolm & Greenberg, 2000), behavioral (Gordon et al., 2000), motivational (McCullough et al., 1997), decisional (DiBlasio, 1998), and interpersonal (Baumeister et al., 1998) aspects. Forgiveness  was  also  interpreted  in  terms  of  coping  strategies  (Worthington  & Scherer, 2004, Strelan & Covic, 2006), though there is no uniform statements as to which types of strategies are likely to be related to forgiveness. Objectives. The aim of the present study was to analyse the multifunctional nature of forgiveness and test the hypothesis that proneness to forgiveness facilitates the efficacy of the individual’s coping with stressful situations. Method.  For  the  empirical  research  we  have  used  Heartland  Forgiveness  Scale (Thompson, Snyder, Hoffman, 2005), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Endler &  Parker,  1990,  adapted  by  T.  Kryukova,  2001)  and  The  Self-Handicapping  Scale (Jones & Rhodewalt, 1982, adapted by D. Nosenko). Sample.  Participants  (36  females  and  26  males)  of  the  first  mature  age  group (21 – 35 years) were recruited from the population of the university undergraduate and graduate students as well as the university alumni who volunteered to participate as acquaintances of the authors. Results. The research has shown that the individuals with high level of willingness to forgive demonstrate lower frequency of resorting to the emotion-focused coping in comparison with the individuals characterized as unforgiving, lower proneness to self-handicapping as well as the lower tendency to avoidance. Conclusion. The research findings have confirmed the hypothesis about the existence of the statistically significant differences between the individuals with different levels of willingness to forgive in the efficacy of coping (both reactive and proactive).